The mobile phone has become an unavoidable, ubiquitous essential in our lives. But sans all the add-ons, a mobile phone is simply a device to connect people. It lets you interact without having to let go of your personal space i.e. a blend of communication and privacy. When approached to design a retail space in Rajkot for Dev Mobile, i-con Architects and Urban Planners decided to hone in on this simple concept and reflect it through design.

The team at i-con Architects and Urban Planners was approached to transform a two floor, 152 sqm. existing structure into a trendy mobile-retail store. The ground floor was a small area flanked by a parking space, with a flight of stairs that led up to a bigger first floor with a balcony. Although the architects were to revamp the interiors, enclose the balcony of the first floor, and devise a façade; their primary aim was to build a store that interests passer bys and therefore, boosts sales. Marketing differently, through architecture and façade design.

The site

The building was a residential building, where the ground and first floors were to be used as retail spaces.

Their marketing strategy: the brick jaali

The building was a residential building, where the ground and first floors were to be used as retail spaces – a common occurrence in most of India. This got the team thinking – finishing the façade with glass and a printed or even embedded logo or advertisement, would easily blend in with the hundreds of such stores around them. They aimed to craft a façade that stands out, draws one in, and then leaves them with a unique experience. Additionally, they also wanted the building to remain architecturally Indian. Building on that, and the idea of mobile phones and connections, the architects devised a brick jaali façade – a skin that offers a certain amount of visual connectivity, without taking away the store’s privacy.

The Plans

The team at i-con Architects and Urban Planners was approached to transform a two floor, 152 sqm.

A Section showing the jaali

The brick jaali starts off as an enclosure for the balcony, which subsequently rises to transform into the façade for the store.

The brick is staple of India’s architecture, both traditional, as well as contemporary. These bricks albeit were not regular bricks. The architects customised bricks of 230mm X 75mm X 100m with six 19mm holes in each of them. These holes were made for mild steel bars of 19mm diameter to be fixed into them, to hold them in place.

The brick jaali

The architects customised bricks of 230mm X 75mm X 100m with six 19mm holes in each of them. These holes were made for mild steel bars of 19mm diameter to be fixed into them, to hold them in place.

They aimed to craft a façade that stands out, draws one in, and then leaves them with a unique experience.

The brick jaali starts off as an enclosure for the balcony, which subsequently rises to transform into the façade for the store. Each brick is woven into 19mm thick mild steel rods, which then extend and project beyond the brick work, to mimic antennas.

Building on the concept of the cell phone

The architects devised a brick jaali façade – a skin that offers a certain amount of visual connectivity, without taking away the store’s privacy.

Made strategically

The project was approached to be built sustainably. The construction techniques were kept simple and minimal, so when required, the project can be taken apart and regenerated. The brick jaali, for instance, is completely held together by the steel rods, therefore using no concrete. While the floors and walls were cladded in brick – unifying the space, the furniture was carved from previously wasted wood and glass. The holes on the bricks, though not functional here, remain. These holes establish a visual disguise of extended connectivity.

Built frugally

The lighting used in the interiors come from reused waste paper tubes, that are now transformed into majestic chandeliers.

The lighting used in the interiors come from reused waste paper tubes, that are now transformed into majestic chandeliers. The entire project follows a warm, earthy colour palette, that is reflective of connection and intimacy, or Humane (one of the 2018 ColourNext trends).

A `Humane` palette

The entire project follows a warm, earthy colour palette, that is reflective of connection and intimacy, or Humane, like on of the 2018 ColourNext trends.